A White Christmas

I remember wishing for a white Christmas when I was younger but the closest we ever got was a few snowflakes on Christmas Eve.  This Christmas the forecast was calling for snow on Christmas but I was skeptical.  The snow arrived a little late to really enjoy on Christmas, it started falling at our house around 7pm.  However, since we had over 1 1/2 inches by midnight it was declared that Charlotte did indeed have a White Christmas for the first time since 1947. 

The next morning we had 4 inches of snow which is a considerable amount for this area especially in December.  The girls hardly noticed all of the white stuff on the ground, though I did catch Savannah looking out the window at it a few times.  We bundled them up around 10am and took them out to see the snow, which was still falling.  Their reactions were quite different:

Emma was totally excited and sat in the snow trying to throw snowballs at us.  Scott had thrown a few at her so she would pick up the snow and throw it, but of course by missing the 'roll into a ball' step it didn't make it very far.  It was really cute. 

Olivia didn't mind it at first but when she tried walking in it she fell down and I think she didn't like how cold it was because I had to carry her from then on, she would have nothing to do with it and screamed when I tried to get her to taste it.  She did however, think that the snow falling on us was fun and would laugh and point at it. 

Savannah would not walk in the snow, but she enjoyed eating it, she would walk along the sidewalk and pick some up to eat but would not get any closer. 

We took them out again around noon and this time Olivia actually ate some snow and really enjoyed it.  Here are some cute pictures of them enjoying the snow.

Here are a few cute videos:

After the snow we gave them baths and let them try some snowcream.  They loved the snowcream so I think it is safe to say that they are true southern girls now.

Here is a video and some pictures of their first snowcream experience:

Christmas 2010

This Christmas was very different than last Christmas, the girls actually took a lot of interest in opening their gifts and even had some reactions for the gifts that were toys.  They enjoyed the wrapping paper and boxes some but once they got a toy that is all they wanted to play with.  

On Christmas Eve we meet at my mom's house at 10am for an early Christmas with my immediate family.  We had a nice brunch and we all opened lots of gifts, the girls got some really adorable dresses and outfits.  They got a few toys but their favorite was the rocking horses my dad built for them, they all loved them and rode for probably 20 minutes straight.  My neice Jayla was so funny she kept telling us who was in the lead and then she would make trumpet sounds and announce the winner and crown the winner with leftover Christmas bows and ribbon, it was really entertaining.

After naps we went to my grandfather's house around 4:30, though it was sad that he was not with us this year I'm glad we still got to continue the tradition.  The girls got some great gifts and were really excited, Savannah pushed her little lawnmower around even though it was really crowded she navigated it through the house it was cute.  Olivia wanted her puzzle opened so we let her play with it for a little while until she was distracted by all of the other kids.  Emma got a broom and dustpan that was a big hit with her, we had to put it away though before she knocked someone out with the handle.  They really enjoyed the food and would stick around anyone willing to give them a bite, we are so fortunate that they don't have allergies and we can allow them to wander around munching on snacks.  My cousin Nikole was their favorite and she was surrounded by all 3 for a good while cutting up hotdogs into ittty bitty pieces for them, I'm not sure she ever got to eat a hotdog herself.



On Christmas morning the girls came down the stairs and Savannah saw that there was toys (especially the big slide) and she stopped and pointed and jibber jabbered you could tell she was excited.  We opened gifts and the girls enjoyed that but I think their favorite gift was the indoor slide from Santa, they love it and played with very little else on Christmas morning. Around lunch time we headed down to have lunch with my parents and extended family the girls enjoyed themselves but it was right at their nap time so we tried to lay them down which did not work well.  The girls really had a nice time and it was fun to see them so excited but we were exhausted so we all took a nap when we got back home around 4.  It really was a lovely day for our family.  We are excited to get to do it all over again when Scott's parents and grandmother arrive in a few days.

Emma Sliding



Olivia sliding

Savannah riding the mini quad car



Merry Christmas to All

Videos

We have been slack at putting up videos this one is from last month of the girls doing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Patty Cake.  The next one is of Emma walking on her knees and Olivia walking around. Since this video Emma has been walking on her feet a lot more but when she gets excited or is in a hurry she opts for her knee walking.

An Update From Scott - The First Month

After 9 months of watching the girls I have found a new job. I actually started this job at the beginning of November. Again I am working at Wachovia/Wells Fargo. Every day I get up at 6 in the morning so I can leave the house by 6:45 so I can arrive at work at 7:30. I only take a half hour lunch so that I am able to leave work at 4 so I can make the return trip home and let the nanny go home. Sarah has cut back on her hours slightly which has allowed her to see the girls more at night and it allows us to have a little bit extra time in the evening so we can go out with the girls if we have the energy to do so.

The girls are getting so tall. They are still as lean as ever, but that is probably because they are so busy. I get tired just watching how busy they are. The girls all eat a lot of food now and it is a challenge to feed them new foods, but I think they like new things. The girls are learning to use spoons with limited success, while creating big messes. The number of words they can say is slowly increasing, and I am sure that one day the number of words they say are going to increase exponentially. My personal favorite is the way Savannah says Daddy, not just because it is daddy, but because it is really cute when she says it.

The biggest challenge we face right now is doing the grocery shopping. When I was at home, I would hire someone to come in on one day so I could go do the grocery shopping during the day. Now that I work I do not have that luxury, and we are forced to either go alone at night, or to take the girls with us when we get back from work or go on the weekend. The girls are getting to be more fun every day. They now do patty-cake, the itsy bitsy spider, and other songs and nursery rhymes. They toys are slowly overwhelming our house, yet we can still keep them all in the playroom. The house still has baby gates everywhere. At the present time we have 5 baby gates scattered through the house.

The girls are also still sleeping in their cribs. We have not had to convert them to toddler beds yet. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while. The girls have been doing well at both naps and night time. They go to bed well and most of the times sleep through the night. Savannah is the weakest link with sleeping through the night. It seems that about once a week she will wake up during the night. I will go into the room and hold her until she is content and lay her back down. Normally this takes less than 30 minutes, but after this it can be a bit hard to fall asleep, and I end up losing an hour of sleep. This brings me to the point that at night I try to get in bed at 10 which never ever happens and I end up going to bed at 11. This means that if I slept all the way through the night I would be getting 7 hours of sleep. At one point in my life this worked fine for me, but this amount is a bit hard for me right now. Maybe after a couple more months of this schedule I will be able to handle it better.

While at work I miss the girls a lot and look forward to seeing them when I get home. Right now I am able to beat Sarah home on Tuesdays and Thursdays which is great since I am able to get the bigger welcome from the girls when I get home. When I get home they run to the baby gate by the front door. Savannah and Emma normally give me kisses while Olivia runs to the gate to say hello then is off to play some more. I have to admit that the best part about working again is the welcome I get when I get home. It is one of the biggest highlights of my day.

Sarah and I are both excited about Christmas. We have bought the girls many things for Christmas which we think the girls will really like. The week after Christmas my parents and grandmother are supposed to visit. I am excited about seeing them since I do not see them often. Hopefully we will be able to update the blog shortly after Christmas so you can all see the exciting Christmas the girls had.